Biscuit dough

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a dough for producing a biscuit having a slowly-digestible-starch-over-total-available-starch ratio of at least 31%, the biscuit comprising at least 29 wt % cereal flour, 5 to 22 wt % fat and at most 30 wt % sugar relative to the total weight of the biscuit, the dough comprising: cereal flour, fat, sugar and added water; and wherein the added water is in an amount of at most 8 wt % relative to the weight of dough.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a U.S. National Stage Entry of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2012/061891, filed 20 Jun. 2012, which in turn claims priority benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/498,986, filed 20 Jun. 2011, and European Patent Application Nos.: 11290279.6, filed 20 Jun. 2011, and 11290278.8, filed 20 Jun. 2011, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

The present invention concerns biscuits, including layered and filled cookies. More specifically, the present disclosure concerns the dough suitable for the production of such biscuits and a method for producing biscuits from the dough.

Biscuits are conventionally made from refined flours. With an increasing consumer awareness of the relative health merits of different foods, food products made from wholegrain flours are in increasing demand. This is because the nutritional pattern of wholegrain flours is considered healthier by consumers than that of refined flours. There is also a desire for food products that deliver long-lasting energy and meet a number of health criteria.

Biscuits that provide a slow release of carbohydrates and therefore have a long-lasting energy release, are believed to be beneficial for consumers' health. The starch fraction that is slowly digested (slowly digestible starch or SDS) is responsible for this long-lasting energy release. Products like biscuits comprise a significant amount of slowly digestible starch before baking. This amount of slowly digestible starch decreases during the baking process. This is due to the gelatinisation of the SDS during the baking process. The gelatinisation occurs owing to the presence of water in the dough mixture. Gelatinisation refers to the partial melting of the crystalline domains of starch, resulting in increased digestibility. During the heat treatment of moist dough the starch granules first swell, then progressively loose their crystalline structure until they burst, resulting in the leaching out of the polysaccharides contained in the granules (amylose and amylopectin). In highly concentrated systems such as biscuit doughs, this sequence of event may be limited by the restricted moisture content, but the progressive melting of the crystalline domains still occurs.

It will be understood in the following that “long-lasting energy” would imply that the amount of slowly digestible starch, measured by slowly available glucose (SAG) of the final product using Englyst method (Englyst, 1996), is above 15.0 g/100 g in the final product.

One solution for increasing the slowly digestible starch content is to form a sandwich biscuit and to add native starch to the filling composition. However, the amount of native starch that can be added is limited by the organoleptic properties of the product. Indeed, if the content of native starch is too high it will give a disagreeable mouth feel.

Another solution would be to increase the starch content, the source of SAG, in the dough composition of the biscuit, but this significantly decreases the process-ability of the dough and requires an increase in the required water addition. The negative effect on SAG of increasing the added water (which increases gelatinisation of the starch) outweighs the positive effect of adding more starch.

Another issue with biscuits is the content of fat and/or sugar required. Fat and sugar are dough plasticizers. Consequently, it is desirable to include such ingredients in the dough to improve the process-ability of the dough. However, the addition of these ingredients has an adverse effect on the nutritional value of the biscuit.

Another solution would be to include polyols or short-chain soluble fibres, such as fructooligosaccharides, polydextrose, resistant dextrins and the like in the dough. Polyols and short-chain soluble fibres mimic sugar behaviour during processing hence improve the process-ability of the dough. However, these ingredients can raise gastrointestinal tolerance issues.

For handling the poor process-ability of the dough, water can of course be added to the dough. However, water triggers gelatinisation of starch during the baking of the biscuit and this results in an undesirably low slowly digestible starch content in the baked biscuit part. Therefore, the long-lasting energy property can be lost.

In US 2007/134,392 a dough is made from 70 wt % wheat flour, 7 wt % butter, 5 wt % fructose with 28% water content. Using this formulation, US 2007/134,392 attempts to obtain a biscuit with a high slowly-digestible-starch content and that can be considered healthy. A starch product is used in the dough that has been at least partially gelatinised or at least partially plasticised with a short-chain amylose, resulting in a crystalline structure of the starch product that is slowly digested by the amylase. However, the biscuit of US 2007/134392 fails to fulfil the long-lasting energy criteria.

The use of flakes can improve the SDS content. The starch coming from the flakes has less contact with any added water in the dough, and thus gelatinises to a lesser extent than, for example, the starch in a finely ground flour. Consequently, flake starch is a good candidate for helping maintain a high value of slowly available starch. Flakes also require less hydration than flours. However, using too many flakes is not ideal for biscuits since consumers do not expect to see a high flake content in a biscuit. The texture of these biscuits with too many flakes is overly chewy and parts of the biscuit remain stuck to the teeth. In particular, these biscuits can be denser and have a flaky/sandy texture.

Consequently, there is a need for a dough and a method for using the dough to provide an improved biscuit, tackle at least some of the problems associated with the prior art, or at least provide a commercially useful alternative thereto.

Accordingly, in a first aspect the present disclosure provides a dough for producing a biscuit having a slowly-digestible-starch-over-total-available-starch ratio of at least 31%, the biscuit comprising at least 29 wt % cereal flour, 5 to 22 wt % fat and at most 30 wt % sugar relative to the total weight of the biscuit, the dough comprising:

-   -   cereal flour, fat, sugar and added water;     -   and wherein the added water is in an amount of at most 8 wt %         relative to the weight of dough.

The present disclosure will now be further described. In the following passages different aspects of the disclosure are defined in more detail. Each aspect so defined may be combined with any other aspect or aspects unless clearly indicated to the contrary. In particular, any feature indicated as being preferred or advantageous may be combined with any other feature or features indicated as being preferred or advantageous.

Doughs are commonly used to make breads and other bakery products. A dough is a mixture made by mixing flour and other ingredients with an amount of water. In a bread dough, for example, the weight of added water is about 40% of the weight of the total dough weight. The dough of the present disclosure preferably has a low water content and a low cohesion. That is, the dough preferably does not stretch and instead falls apart under an applied force. The dough may, indeed, be considered as crumbly.

Biscuits are baked, edible, cereal-based products. They typically have a low moisture and a crispy texture. They are typically small, and leavened with baking powder, baking soda, or sometimes yeast. They are typically sweet. They can contain inclusions and fillings.

The dough disclosed herein is for producing a biscuit having a slowly-digestible-starch-over-total-available-starch ratio of at least 31%, preferably at least 35 wt %, more preferably at least 38 wt %, still more preferably at least 40 wt %. The highest ratio will preferably be at most 80 wt % for digestibility. Total available starch comprises slowly digestible starch (SDS) and rapidly digestible starch (RDS). The difference between total available starch and total starch is that total available starch does not comprise resistant starch that cannot be digested, i.e. that escapes digestion in the small intestine.

It is believed that slowly digestible starch gives a higher health benefit than rapidly digestible starch. Indeed, rapidly digestible starch is rapidly broken down into glucose during digestion and thus rapidly made available to the body. Therefore, the blood glucose level rapidly increases. This can trigger insulin delivery leading to some storage in adipose tissues. Consequently, energy can only be provided for a shorter time. On the contrary, slowly digestible starch is slowly assimilated by the body. Consequently, energy can be provided for a longer time.

SDS or slowly available glucose (SAG) can be characterised through the slowly available glucose (SAG) measurement by Englyst method (“Rapidly Available Glucose in Foods: an In Vitro Measurement that Reflects the Glycaemic Response”, Englyst et al., Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 1996 (3), 69(3), 448-454; “Glycaemic Index of Cereal Products Explained by Their Content of Rapidly and Slowly Available Glucose”, Englyst et al., Br. J. Nutr., 2003(3), 89(3), 329-340; “Measurement of Rapidly Available Glucose (RAG) in Plant Foods: a Potential In Vitro Predictor of the Glycaemic Response”, Englyst et al., Br. J. Nutr., 1996(3), 75(3), 327-337). SAG refers to the amount of glucose (from sugar and starch, including maltodextrins) likely to be available for slow absorption in the human small intestine. In the present case of the disclosure, the SDS content equals the SAG content since there is no other SAG source than starch, i.e. SDS. Rapidly available glucose (RAG) refers to the amount of glucose likely to be available for rapid absorption in the human small intestine.

In Englyst method, biscuit samples are prepared by manually and roughly grinding one or more biscuits. The biscuit samples are then subjected to an enzymatic digestion by incubation in presence of invertase, pancreatic alpha-amylase and amyloglucosidase under standardised conditions. Parameters such as pH, temperature (37° C.), viscosity and mechanical mixing are adjusted to mimic the gastrointestinal conditions. After an enzymatic digestion time of 20 min, glucose is measured and is labelled RAG. After an enzymatic digestion time of 120 min, glucose is again measured and is labelled available glucose (AG). SAG is obtained by subtracting RAG to AG (SAG=AG−RAG), thus, SAG corresponds to the glucose fraction released between the 20^(th) and the 120^(th) minute. Free glucose (FG), including the glucose released from sucrose, is obtained by separate analysis. RDS is then obtained as the subtraction of FG from RAG (RDS=RAG−FG).

Preferably, a ready-to-eat biscuit or sandwich cookie has at least 15 g SAG/100 g. Preferably, the ready-to-eat biscuit or sandwich cookie has a SAG content of at least 16.5 g/100 g, more preferably at least 18.0 g/100 g, still more preferably at least 21.0 g/100 g. The highest SAG will preferably be at most 50.0 g/100 g.

The dough comprises cereal flour, fat, sugars and added water. The dough may also comprise further ingredients, such as flakes, and these further ingredients are discussed in detail below.

The dough is used to form a biscuit comprising at least 29 wt % cereal flour, 5 to 22 wt % fat and at most 30 wt % sugar relative to the total weight of the biscuit. The dough used to form such a biscuit will generally contain a lower wt % of these components due to the presence in the dough of water which is removed in the final biscuit by the baking step. Thus, the dough used to form the biscuit will generally have at least about 29 wt % cereal flour, about 4 to about 20 wt % fat and at most about 27 wt % sugar.

The dough comprises added water in an amount of at most 8 wt % relative to the total weight of the dough. That is, the added water forms 8 wt % of the total dough before baking. This water is substantially removed from the biscuit during baking. Added water does not include the water that is already present in some of the ingredients (such as the about 14 wt % of cereal flour that is water). At least some of the water present in these ingredients is also removed from the biscuit during baking. Hence, the wt % of cereal flour in the dough and in the final biscuit is substantially the same, due to this loss of moisture. Components without a moisture content (such as fat) will then form a larger wt % of the biscuit than of the dough.

The dough comprises at most 8 wt % added water, preferably from 3 to 8 wt %, and more preferably from 4 to 7 wt % and most preferably from 5 to 6 wt %. As noted above, the term “added water” means water that is added in addition to the other ingredients. Thus, “added water” does not include water contained in any other ingredients such as cereal flour (typically around 10-15 wt %), flakes or bran and germs. For syrups of sugars, short chain soluble fibres, polyols and the like, the water present in the syrup is considered as part of the added water,

The rheology of a biscuit dough as discussed herein and having a water content of from 3 to 8 wt % is quite characteristic. The dough typically does not have a “continuous” structure like a bread/pizza dough, and is instead more like a collection of disconnected particles. When the dough has a water content of less than 3 wt % no dough can be formed. At such low hydration levels the dough behaves more like a granular material (similar to sand). The dough texture resembles that of shortbread or crumble dough and exhibits a very limited cohesion. Such doughs are also much harder upon compression than more hydrated doughs. Thus, the dough workability is diminished and it cannot be processed by rotary moulding. With higher amounts of added water than 8 wt %, the dough machinability increases but the extent of starch hydrolysis on baking is increased and the SDS decreases.

The dough (and, hence, the final biscuit) comprises cereal flour. The cereal flour is present in the biscuit in an amount of at least 29 wt %, more preferably at least 30 wt %, more preferably at least 31 wt %. Preferably, the biscuit comprises at most 70 wt % cereal flour, more preferably at most 60 wt %, still more preferably at most 50 wt %.

The cereal flour may comprise refined cereal flour and/or wholegrain cereal flour.

The cereal flour preferably comprises refined cereal flour. The refined cereal flour is preferably selected from soft wheat flour, wheat flour with low damaged starch, and thermally treated wheat flour and mixtures thereof. Using these kinds of flour it is possible to limit the starch gelatinisation during baking and increase the SDS in the final product. Indeed, in these flours, starch is less damaged than conventional refined wheat flour. As said before, starch gelatinisation enables starch to be more easily digestible and thus reduces slowly-digestible-starch content in the final product.

Soft wheat flours and hard wheat flours are both wheat flour types produced from Triticum aestivum. Soft wheat flours should not be confused with flours produced from Triticum aestivum only and hard wheat flours with flours produced from Triticum durum. Terms “soft” and “hard” refer to the hardness of the grains of Triticum aestivum used to make the flour and not to the species of wheat. Hardness of the grains is due to density of endosperm cells. Soft wheat endosperm has a lower density, which corresponds to weaker starch and protein bonds. Consequently soft wheat grains can be crushed into finer particles than hard wheat grains and resulting in less damaged starch.

Soft wheat flours may be obtained from the milling of soft wheat, for example those commercialised under the name Crousty, Alteo, Epson (both from Syngenta) or Arkeos (from Limagrain), etc. The use of softer flours, which absorb less water, allows for the use of a wider range of added water than for harder flours. That is, even if up to 10 wt % water is used, the flour generally absorbs less of the water and the starch content is consequently less gelatinised during baking. Moreover, since less water is absorbed, there is more free water available to lubricate the dough and a processable dough can be produced even with a reduced amount of added water (around 3-4 wt %). In one embodiment, when using a soft flour, the dough may comprise up to 10 wt % added water.

Wheat flour with low damaged starch means a flour with a content of damaged starch lower than 5.5% of the flour weight. Damaged starch content is the percentage of starch granules that are physically damaged during the milling operation. It is measured by AACC 76-31.01 method

Examples of thermally treated wheat flours are wheat flours treated with a number of heating and cooling cycles or annealed. Annealing is a hydrothermal treatment that changes the physicochemical properties of starches by improving crystal growth and by facilitating interactions between starch chains.

The refined wheat flour is preferably made of specifically selected milling fractions so that the flour has a very low water absorption under 55% as measured by Brabender® Farinograph® according to NF-ISO-5530-1 norm. Preferably, the selected milling fractions have a small particle size, i.e. the percentage of fine particles under 40 μm is above 50%. Selecting milling fractions can be assisted by granulometry analysis (by laser granulometry or mesh diameter) during milling. The use of these tests is well known in the art of baking and described below.

The cereal flour preferably comprises refined cereal flour, preferably refined wheat flour. The refined cereal flour preferably represents at least 14.5 wt % of the dough and of the biscuit, with a water absorption under 55% as measured by Brabender® Farinograph® according to NF-ISO-5530-1 norm, preferably under 52%. More preferably at least 21 wt %, preferably at least 41 wt %, of the dough and biscuit are such a refined cereal flour. Use of this type of flour gives the advantage that less water is needed to form the dough and thus limits gelatinisation of starch. Preferably, the refined cereal flour represents at most 60 wt %, preferably at most 50 wt % of the dough. As a consequence, a healthier cookie is obtained.

The measure by Brabender® Farinograph® is normalised under NF-ISO-5530-1. Water absorption is defined in this norm as the quantity of water per 100 g of flour at 14 wt % water content needed to have a dough with a maximal consistency of 500 UF. Consistency is the resistance, expressed in arbitrary units (farinographic units UF), of a dough during kneading inside the Farinograph®, at a constant speed specified in the norm. First, water content of the flour is measured. Then, water is added to the flour, quantity of water being calculated so that consistency of the dough is close to 500 UF (480 UF to 520 UF). Flour and water are kneaded together and measures are recorded for two dough troughs. From these measures and the volume of water added to the flour to form the dough, water absorption is obtained.

Techniques for measuring water content are well known in the art. The water content of the flour, dough and final biscuits can be measured using the AAC 44-15.02 International Method (Moisture-air oven methods), revised 1999.

The cereal flour can preferably comprise a wholegrain cereal flour. Use of wholegrain flours makes it more difficult to form processable dough. This is because the wholegrain flours, unlike refined flours, comprise bran and germ in addition to endosperm. Bran and germ contain higher amount of fibers than the endosperm and therefore have a higher water retention capacity. If the same level of dough hydration is kept, the dough has a more granular consistency and a harder, drier texture, what makes it less easy to process. However, the inclusion of wholegrain cereal flour is associated with a number of health benefits.

“Wholegrain cereal flour(s)” means flour produced directly or indirectly from cereal whole grains comprising endosperm, bran and germ. The wholegrain flour can also be preferably reconstituted from separate flours made from endosperm, bran and germ respectively in ratios that give the reconstituted wholegrain flour the same composition as wholegrain flour directly produced from grains that still retain bran and germ.

“Wholegrain cereal flour” should be distinguished from “refined cereal flour” that means flour made from cereal endosperm only. The cereal flour in the dough preferably comprises wholegrain cereal flour. The biscuit preferably comprises at least 29 wt % wholegrain cereal flour, preferably at least 30 wt %, more preferably at least 31 wt %. Preferably, the biscuit comprises at most 70 wt % wholegrain cereal flour, more preferably at most 60 wt %, still more preferably at most 50 wt %. When amount of wholegrain cereal flour is over 70 wt %, it becomes very difficult to process the dough.

The wholegrain cereal flour is preferably selected from wholegrain wheat flour, wholegrain barley flour, wholegrain rye flour, wholegrain spelt flour, wholegrain oat flour, wholegrain rice flour, wholegrain maize flour, wholegrain millet flour, wholegrain sorghum flour, wholegrain teff flour, wholegrain triticale flour, and pseudocereal flour such as amaranth flour and quinoa flour, and mixtures of two or more thereof. Preferably, the wholegrain cereal flour is selected from wholegrain wheat flour, wholegrain barley flour, wholegrain rye flour, wholegrain spelt flour, wholegrain oat flour and mixtures or two or more thereof. More preferably, it is selected from wholegrain wheat flour, wholegrain barley flour, wholegrain rye flour, wholegrain spelt flour and mixtures of two or more thereof.

Preferably, the wholegrain cereal flour comprises at least two different types of wholegrain cereal flours.

In one embodiment, the wholegrain cereal flour comprises wholegrain wheat flour. The wholegrain wheat flour can be a reconstituted wholegrain wheat flour obtained from a mixture of refined wheat flour, wheat bran flour and wheat germ flour. Preferably, the refined wheat flour is the same as the refined wheat flour with a water absorption under 55% as measured by Brabender® Farinograph® which can be used in this method. In this latter case, a part of this refined wheat flour is used to reconstitute the wholegrain wheat flour, however this part will be included in the refined wheat flour content of the dough and, at the same time, part of the wholegrain cereal flour content. Consequently, it will be included in the at least 14.5 wt % of the biscuit of refined wheat flour, preferably at least 29 wt %. Preferably, the other wholegrain cereal flour(s) are chosen amongst wholegrain barley flour, wholegrain rye flour, wholegrain spelt flour and mixture thereof.

In one preferred embodiment, the wholegrain cereal flour comprises at most 80 wt % wholegrain wheat flour, preferably at most 60 wt %, more preferably at most 50 wt % and still more preferably at most 32 wt %, relative to the wholegrain cereal flour content.

In a still preferred embodiment, the wholegrain cereal flour comprises four different types of wholegrain cereal flour: wholegrain barley flour, wholegrain rye flour, wholegrain spelt flour and wholegrain wheat flour.

Preferably, the wholegrain cereal flour is a multicereal flour, i.e. at least 20 wt % of the wholegrain cereal flour is not wholegrain wheat flour, preferably at least 40 wt %, more preferably at least 50 wt % and still more preferably at least 68 wt %.

When types of wholegrain cereal flour other than wholegrain wheat flour are used it is even more difficult to obtain a biscuit with the adequate SDS/(SDS+RDS) value over 31 wt % since some types of wholegrain cereal flour, such as rye, barley and spelt contain less SDS than wholegrain wheat flour.

The dough and the biscuit comprise fat. As defined herein “fat” or “fats” means any lipid source, vegetable or animal source that is edible and can be used to make the layered cookie. Examples of such fat are palm oil, rapeseed oil, and other vegetable oils, and other vegetable oils, butter from animal source.

The fat is present in an amount of from 5 to 22 wt % by weight of the biscuit.

Preferably, a ready-to-eat layered cookie obtainable with the dough disclosed herein has 10 wt % to 25 wt % fat, more preferably 11 wt % to 23 wt % fat, even more preferably 12 wt % to 20 wt %, still even more preferably 15 wt % to 20 wt %. A biscuit or the biscuit part of the layered cookie preferably contains 5 wt % to 22 wt % fat over the total weight of the biscuit part, preferably 6 wt % to 20 wt %, more preferably 7 wt % to 15 wt %.

The biscuit comprises at most 30 wt % sugar. As defined herein, “sugar” or “sugars” means the dry matter of any mono- and disaccharides, whatever the source and also by extension all the dry matter of the glucose syrup, also called glucose-fructose syrup or fructose-glucose syrup. Among monosaccharides there are fructose, galactose, glucose, mannose and mixtures thereof. Among disaccharides, there is saccharose, but saccharose may be partly or totally replaced with another disaccharide, such as lactose or maltose. Glucose syrup contains mono and disaccharides, but also some longer chains of polymerized dextrose. For the avoidance of doubt, when considering the amount of sugar added to a mixture in the form of a glucose syrup or other sugar suspension, only the dry weight of sugar should be considered. The water content of the syrup or suspension should be considered as part of the added water as described herein.

The most preferred amount of sugar present in the biscuit recipe (i.e. excluding filling) is at least 12 wt %. This is for both sensory impact and technical reasons. Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is speculated that below 12 wt % sugars the machinability of the dough is affected. In general in the dough a continuous phase is formed by the added water enriched by the soluble ingredients that are able to dissolve. Because the sugar is able to dissolve in the water it effectively increases the effective volume of the water present (1 g of sugar dissolved in 1 ml of water gives a total volume of 1.6 ml). Hence, the presence of at least 12 wt % sugars decreases the requirement to include further added water and, hence, by allowing for less water, increases the SDS value of the final biscuit.

The biscuit may also comprise polyols or short-chain soluble fibres. These act in a similar way to sugars in improving the machinability of the dough without increasing the hydrolysis of the starch present in the biscuits. The use of polyols or short-chain soluble fibres allow for the provision of a sugar-free or reduced sugar biscuit. Preferably, the ingredients comprise less than 20%, preferably less than 10 wt %, preferably less than 5% of polyols or short-chain soluble fibres for gastrointestinal tolerance issues and for clean labelling. Similarly as for sugars, only the dry weight of polyols or short-chain soluble fibres should be considered. If a biscuit comprises more than 10 wt % polyols then it is considered to have laxative properties and must be labelled accordingly. Most preferably, the ingredients do not comprise polyols or short-chain soluble fibres. In one embodiment, the biscuits comprise at least 0.1 wt % polyols or short-chain soluble fibres. In one embodiment, the ingredients do not comprise guar gum or other viscous soluble fibers such as pectins, xanthan gum, psyllium, or glucomannan.

Preferably, a ready-to-eat layered cookie obtainable with the dough disclosed herein (including filling) comprises 15 wt % to 40 wt % sugar, preferably 18 wt % to 36 wt %, more preferably 20 wt % to 32 wt %, still more preferably 25 wt % to 30 wt %, over the total weight of the layered cookie. The biscuit part (or the biscuit for an unfilled or non-layered biscuit) preferably contains 10 wt % to 25 wt % sugar over the total weight of the biscuit part, preferably 11 wt % to 22 wt %, more preferably 12 wt % to 20 wt %, even more preferably 12 wt % to 15 wt %.

The biscuit may further comprise from about 19 to about 50 wt % of further ingredients, including wholegrain cereal flakes, non-refined, non-wholegrain flour and additional ingredients, such as, emulsifiers, leavening agents, vitamins, minerals, salt, flavourings and milk or dairy ingredients, and combinations thereof. These additional ingredients are discussed in more detail below.

The biscuit may further comprise at most 34.5 wt % wholegrain cereal flakes, preferably at most 19 wt %, preferably at most 16 wt %, more preferably at most 11 wt %, still more preferably at most 9 wt %, for example wholegrain oat flakes or malted wholegrain rye flakes. An excess of flakes, i.e. over 19 wt %, will give the biscuit an unexpected appearance, i.e. the appearance of a granola biscuit and a denser product that can discourage potential consumers. When flakes are present, preferably they comprise at least about 0.9 wt % of the biscuit, since lesser amounts may not be discernable in the final product.

More generally, the biscuit part of the ready-to-eat layered cookie may comprise visible pieces of cereal whole grains. The preferred flakes are oat flakes and malted rye flakes due to the sensory impact on consumers. This also helps to increase the wholegrain content of the dough recipe without compromising on the palatability of the final biscuits. The most preferred flakes are baby oat flakes since their appearance is advantageous for the consumer and they contribute additional SDS to the biscuit that is less readily hydrolysed during baking. They remain more intact than large flakes during processing.

By way of example, some ranges of the content of different flakes are set out in the table below:

Minimum % Maximum % Ingredient type in biscuit formula in biscuit formula Wheat flakes 0.9 9 Malted rye flakes 0.9 19 Baby oat flakes 3 18 Oat flakes 3 9 Barley flakes 0.9 3

The biscuit part of the ready-to-eat layered cookie can still comprise additional cereal bran and/or cereal germ. In case there are additional cereal bran and cereal germ, the bran and the germ come from different cereals chosen amongst: wheat, barley, rye, spelt, oat or a mixture thereof.

The dough and the biscuit may include other ingredients. Other ingredients that can be mixed with the cereal flour and water for forming the dough are: emulsifier, leavening agents. Emulsifier can be soybean lecithin, diacetyl tartaric ester of monoglyceride, sodium stearoyl lactylate. Leavening agent can be ammonium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium pyrophosphate acid or a mixture thereof. Other ingredients can also be vitamins or minerals such as vitamin B1, vitamin, vitamin PP, iron and magnesium and a mixture thereof.

Still other dry ingredients can be salt, flavouring agents, cocoa powder, solid pieces, milk and dairy derivatives, honey and calcium supplementation.

Flavouring agent can be in powder form or liquid form.

Solid pieces may be chocolate drops, fruit pieces, nuts like hazelnut (preferably hazelnut pieces), extruded cereal, etc. Solid pieces do not include cereal flakes. Solid pieces bring texture and flavour without increasing SAG content. The biscuit preferably comprises 2 wt % to 15 wt % solid pieces, preferably 4 wt % to 10 wt %.

Chocolate drops are pieces of solid chocolate. “Chocolate” is understood as meaning either “dark chocolate”, “milk chocolate” or “white chocolate”. Preferably, chocolate drops are dark chocolate pieces containing at least 35 wt % of cocoa liquor (US legislation), more preferably 35 wt % of cocoa solids (European Union legislation), still more preferably at least 40 wt %.

Within the scope of the disclosure, “fruit pieces” means pieces of any sweet, edible part of a plant that resembles fruit, for example raisin, fig, prune, orange, cranberry, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, apricot, blackcurrant, redcurrant, peach, pear, kiwi, banana, apple, lemon, pineapple, tomato. These pieces of fruit are either dried or processed. This wording does not include nuts.

Preferably the dough has a prebaking density of from 1.0 to 1.5 g/cm³, preferably from 1.1 to 1.4 g/cm³ and more preferably from 1.2 to 1.3 g/cm³. That is, the combination of ingredients is such that when pressed into the form of a desired pre-baking biscuit shape, the dough should have a density of from 1.0 to 1.5 g/cm³. This density provides cohesion to the dough that leads to a final product with a desirable texture and strength. When the density of the dough is lower, the texture of the biscuit is softer and the biscuit is less able to form a cohesive structure and is more prone to damage in transit. When the density of the dough is higher, such as from 1.3 to 1.5 g/cm³, it is possible to employ less fat in the dough and still obtain a coherent biscuit. However, as the density of the biscuit increases, it may be overly hard and less desirable to the consumer. The dough density before moulding is typically about 0.7 g/cm³.

The compression can be quantified by calculating the density, i.e. the mass per unit volume, of the dough in the rotary mould. This is done by dividing the weight of a dough piece (straight after rotary moulding) by the volume of the rotary mould. The density of dough after compression in the rotary mould is preferably between 1.2 and 1.3 g/cm³.

The dough preferably has a particle size distribution such that at least 20%, preferably 30%, preferably 50%, more preferably 70 wt % of the dough passes through a vibrating sieve mesh of 10 mm. The dough preferably has a particle size distribution such that at least 8 wt %, preferably at least 10 wt % and more preferably at least 15 wt % of the dough passes through a vibrating sieve mesh of 2 mm. The particle size distribution can preferably be determined using five graded sieves having meshes of 10, 8, 6.3, 4 and 2 mm, wherein the sieves are vibrated with a sieve acceleration of 1.5 mm/“g” for a duration of 3 minutes. A suitable machine for performing the sieving is a Vibratory Sieve Shaker AS 200 Control (RETSCH, Germany) and the various test parameters and units are well known in the art. A sample size for performing the analysis is preferably 800 g. The value “g” is the standard gravity constant (g=9.81 m·s⁻²).

It is also preferred that the dough has a particle size distribution such that the D10 of the dough mass distribution is at most 6 mm, preferably at most 3 mm. This is measured by calculating the cumulated particle size distribution against the mesh size and taking the mesh size value that corresponds to 90% of the dough distribution.

Preferably the dough requires a pressure of at least 5000 kg/m² to be compressed to a density of 1.22 g/cm³. More preferably the pressure required to compress the dough to a density of 1.22 g/cm³ is from 6500 to 30000 kg/m², more preferably from 7500 to 15000 kg/m². The pressure required to compress the dough is preferably measured using a cylindrical pot having a diameter of 5.2 cm, wherein 100 g of dough is introduced into the pot and the dough is compressed into the pot by a circular plate having a diameter of 5 cm and connected to a force-meter, and wherein the circular plate advances at a rate of 0.7 mm/s, wherein the force required to achieve a calculated density of 1.22 g/cm³ is recorded. The force is then converted into a pressure value by dividing by the surface of the plate.

The dough may be used to provide a layered cookie. Within the scope of the disclosure, “layered cookie” will be understood as a cookie made of alternating and successive layers of biscuits and filling. The simplest layered cookie is a cookie 4 with a single base biscuit 41 on top of which a filling 43 is deposited as illustrated in FIG. 4. Another type of layered cookie is sandwich cookie 5 which comprises a layer of filling 53 between two layers of biscuits 51, 52 as illustrated in FIG. 5.

For a filled or layered biscuit there will be a filling part. The filling part is a filling having a consistency that ranges, after cooling, from viscous (for a jam) to a solid (for an anhydrous fat filling). The filling can be water based or fat based.

Preferably, at 40° C., the filling has a Casson viscosity between 0.5 Pa·s and 500 Pa·s and a yield stress between 0.1 Pa and 1000 Pa. The Casson yield stress and viscosity can be measured according to the IOCCC 10/1973:2000 method. This relies on the use of a high performance rheometer MCR300 (Anton Paar Physica) interfaced with a PC and equipped with a coaxial measuring unit (TEZ 150-PC) and a coaxial cylinder measurement system (CC27).

Preferably, the filling part contributes to 10 wt % to 40 wt % of the layered cookie, preferably to 15 wt % to 32 wt %, more preferably 25 wt % to 30 wt %.

The filling part may comprise at least one of the following ingredients: fat sugar, water, starch, emulsifier, milk and dairy derivates, flavouring agents, fruit powder, fruit pieces, cocoa powder, chocolate drops, and seeds. Emulsifier can be at least one of the following: soya lecithin, diacetyl tartaric ester of monoglyceride, sodium stearyl lactylate.

When the filling part comprises non gelatinised added starch, non gelatinised added starch constitutes between 2.0 wt % to 40.0 wt % of the filling part, preferably between 7.0 to 22.0 wt % of the filling part.

Milk and dairy derivates can be whey powder, yoghurt powder (with living ferments), fresh milk, milk powder, sweet whey powder, milk proteins, and whey proteins.

Flavouring agent may be in a solid or liquid form.

Fruit powder is desiccated fruits that are pulverised such as strawberry, raspberry, raisin, fig, prune, orange, cranberry, blueberry, apricot, blackcurrant, redcurrant, peach, pear, kiwi, banana, apple, lemon, pineapple, tomato.

A healthy layered cookie comprises sugar that makes up to at most 27.5% of the total caloric value of the final product, fat that makes up to at most 38.0% of the total caloric value of the final product and available carbohydrate at least 55.0% of the total caloric value of the final product.

Due to the water loss of water naturally present in cereal flours on baking, the wt % values for the cereal content of the dough are substantially the same as the wt % values for the final biscuit. The moisture content of flours is typically 14 wt %, 10% for the bran-germs and 11% for the oat flakes.

According to a second aspect there is provided a method for forming a biscuit having a slowly-digestible-starch-over-total-available-starch ratio of at least 31%, the biscuit comprising at least 29 wt % cereal flour, 5 to 22 wt % fat and at most 30 wt % sugar relative to the total weight of the biscuit, the method comprising:

-   -   providing the dough as described herein;     -   moulding the dough into the shape of the biscuit; and     -   baking the biscuit.

Preferably the method comprises:

-   -   mixing E1′ a cereal flour, fat, sugar and remaining ingredients         with at most 8 wt % added water over the total weight of the         dough for forming a dough 2;     -   moulding E3′ the dough 2 to shape the biscuits 3 of the biscuit         part, wherein the moulding is preferably rotary moulding;     -   baking E5′ the biscuits of the biscuit part;     -   Optionally forming E7′-E8′ a layered cookie from at least one         biscuit and a filling.

The moulding preferably compresses the dough to a pre-baking density of from 1.0 to 1.5 g/cm³ as discussed herein.

Rotary moulding is the preferred technique for forming the biscuits because in principle there is no other technology that allows compliance with the criteria on slowly digestible starch. This is because other techniques cannot cope with such poorly hydrated doughs. It is speculated that the high pressure applied by the rotary moulding system permits the use of there dry and crumbly doughs. Moreover, by applying pressure, capillary bridges may form between the dough pieces, transforming the loosely connected particles into a cohesive although fragile pre-baking biscuit.

In principle, however, the forming step could be performed by passing the dough pieces through a so-called sheeter (compression cylinder) to produce a continuous layer of dough (thickness between 3 and 20 mm, preferably between 5 and 12 mm), then cutting the dough layer into smaller pieces of square or rectangular shape (the latter being similar in aspect to granola bars) that are then baked.

Mixing is preferably carried out in a horizontal mixer with double jacket. Mixing phases are adjusted so that water content is controlled. Preferably, the temperature of the dough is 15° C. to 35° C., more peferably 15° C. to 30° C. during mixing.

The present inventors have found that there is a particularly preferred order of mixing the ingredients that permits the use of doughs with even lower hydration levels.

The last ingredient to be added, if present, are flakes. These are added at the end of the process to reduce the risk of damaging the flakes and having a detrimental effect on their appearance. Furthermore, if the flakes are damaged then there is an increased risk of hydrolysing more of the flake starch content which would reduce the SAG of the biscuit as a whole.

In a flake-free composition the final ingredient to be added is flour or flours. When flakes are present, preferably the flour or flours is the penultimate ingredient added. By minimising the time that the flour is present in the mixture it has been found that the amount of water absorbed by the flour can be minimised. This has been found to reduce the amount of water that needs to be added to the mixture. This reduces the amount of water present to hydrolyse the starch and, as a result, the amount of SDS increases in the final product.

That is, the dough is preferably mixed in a multi-step process. In a first step, the ingredients, excluding the added water, cereal flour and wholegrain cereal flakes, if present, are mixed together. Then the added water is added, then the cereal flour is added, then the wholegrain cereal flakes, if present, are added.

By way of an example, in a first step, ingredients such as fat, cocoa powder, sugars, flavours, lecithin, salt, vitamins and sodium bicarbonate are blended together. In a second step, once the first mixture is thoroughly blended, the added water is introduced, together with an amount of ammonium bicarbonate. In a third step, flours and sodium pyrophosphate are added to the mixture. Finally flakes are added. The mixture is then moulded and formed into a biscuit as described herein.

With conventional rotary moulding apparatuses, it is difficult and sometime not possible to process such a granular dough. Therefore, a new specific rotary moulder was designed for the rotary moulding step.

This specific rotary moulder 1 (as illustrated in FIG. 3) comprises:

-   -   a moulding cylinder 11 and a grooved cylinder 12 for shaping the         dough 2 into the biscuit 3; and, optionally     -   a hopper 13 playing the role of a funnel to help feed the         moulding and grooved cylinders 11, 12; and/or     -   a demoulding belt 14 for demoulding the biscuit 3.

The moulding cylinder 11 has mould cavities for receiving the dough 2. The mould cavities will give the dough 2 the shape of the biscuits 3 of the biscuit part. The grooved cylinder 12 preferably comprises grooves of 5 to 15 mm, preferably 10 mm±50% to allow sufficient stickiness of the dough without crushing solid pieces like flakes, and during operation presses the dough 2 that is received inside the mould cavities of the moulding cylinder 11 so that the dough completely filled the mould cavities and take the shape thereof. The grooved cylinder 12 is preferably mounted on a horizontal axis and can be adjusted thereon to vary the compression force applied to the dough 2. High compression should be used since the dough 2 lacks continuity, thus, cohesive dough pieces would be demouldable and transferrable from the demoulding belt 14 to the oven belt that drives the uncooked biscuit 3 into the oven for baking.

The difference of speed between the grooved cylinder 12 and the moulding cylinder 11 is preferably maintained less than 10% so that the formation of the biscuit 3 is not impaired. Indeed, a higher differential between both rotation speed of the moulding cylinder 11 and the grooved cylinder 12 will induce a shear stress on the dough 2 that will not be able to be pressed onto the mould cavities but will rather be spread and less packed between the circumferential faces of the moulding cylinder 11 and the grooved cylinder 12.

The level of dough 2 in the hopper 13 can be preferably controlled so that it is minimal and that the moulding and grooved cylinders 11, 12 are nearly visible. The aim is to prevent the dough 2 from compacting and thus, ensure regular feeding of the moulding cylinder 11 along the width of the demoulding belt 14. The dough 2 has to be the least packed as possible.

A cutter 15, with its tip 151 under the axis line AA of the moulding and grooved cylinders 11, 12, preferably cuts the dough 2 at the top of the mould cavities. The cutter 15 determines the quantity of dough 2 to remain inside the mould cavities, and makes it possible to adjust the weight of the dough pieces therein. Each dough piece forming an uncooked biscuit preferably weighs 0.5 gram to 40 grams, more preferably 1 gram to 35 grams, still more preferably 1 gram to 30 grams.

The demoulding belt 14, preferably made from cotton and/or polyamide, has weft with suitable dimension for extracting dough pieces drier than conventional dough, i.e. granular dough. The demoulding belt 14 is mounted on at least two cylinders 16, 17, one of which, generally a rubber cylinder 16, presses the moulding cylinder 11. Upon pressure of the rubber cylinder 16 onto the moulding cylinder 11, the dough pieces lying inside the mould cavities adhere to the demoulding belt 14 and are transported towards the oven for baking.

The rotary moulder 1 may further comprise a humidifier 18 for the demoulding belt 14, for example the humidifier 18 is a steaming device or a water-spraying device.

Resting time of the resting step E2′ should be limited to avoid high dryness of the dough 2, which would require to further add water and thus would impede SAG content by triggering starch gelatinisation.

Before baking E5′, the biscuits 3 can be glazed so that they gain a shiny appearance. Therefore, the method can comprise an optional additional step of glazing E4′ the shaped biscuit 3. The biscuit 3 can be glazed with an aqueous glazing, preferably comprising milk powder and/or icing sugar and/or buffering agent such as sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide. Preferably, the glazing comprises skimmed milk powder. Still preferably, the glazing comprises starchy icing sugar, i.e. sucrose natural sweetener characterised by its fine granulometry obtained by milling crystal sugar and added with starch as an anti-agglomerating agent.

Baking E5′ is preferably carried out until the moisture content of the baked biscuit 3 (final product) is 0.5 wt % to 5.0 wt %, for example by gentle baking (i.e. baking temperature is below 110° C. inside the biscuit durhg the first third time of the baking—if baking time is 6 min, during 2 min—and preferably below 100° C.).

The baking conditions are preferably mild to minimise the gelatinisation of the starch and to maintain the highest possible SDS in the biscuit. Preferably the conditions in the baking step are especially mild at the beginning of the baking process while the heat dehydrates the biscuit. By using a low heat during this step the gelatinisation of the starch is minimised. Once the water in the biscuit has been reduced it is possible to use higher temperatures without significant gelatinisation. Preferably the baking is conducted so that the temperature of the biscuit is less than 110° C., preferably less than 100° C., and preferably at least 90° C., for the first two minutes of the time of baking. Preferably this temperature is maintained for the first two minutes or the first third of the baking time, whichever is longer. The time of baking is preferably less than 12 minutes, preferably from 4 to 8 minutes and most preferably from 6 to 8 minutes.

After baking, the baked biscuits are cooled down E6′ on an open belt, i.e. a belt that is not covered, a cooling tunnel is preferably not used because there is a too big temperature differential between the input and the output, what causes checking (failure) on the biscuit 3. Then, the filling is deposited E7′ on one biscuit (on the base biscuit for a filling-over-biscuit cookie or on one biscuit out of two for a sandwich cookie).

The water content of the final biscuit is preferably less than 3 wt % and preferably between 1 and 2 wt % of the final biscuit following baking.

The low water content helps to provide a long-term shelf stable product. For example, the present biscuits and sandwich-biscuits may be kept at 20-25° C. for up to one year while remaining edible. Shelf-life studies based on sensory expert panel evaluation have been conducted. It was found that the full sensory profile was maintained for up to 7 months to one year depending on the ingredients. Nevertheless, the edibility of the biscuits extended at least up to the one year mark.

In case the layered cookie is a sandwich cookie, then the sandwich cookie is made by assembling E8′ the second biscuit on the top of the filling.

The layered cookie is cooled-down by forced-air in a cooling tunnel E9′. The layered cookies are then packaged E10′, for example layered cookies are packaged into wrappers containing 50 g of layered cookies and the wrappers are gathered in a packet that is designed to contain 5 or 6 wrappers. Preferably, the layered cookies can be packaged in wrappers so that one wrapper contains one serving, for example two sandwich cookies.

The disclosure also concerns a ready-to-eat layered cookie obtainable by the method described above. Preferably, the layered cookie further comprises at least 18 wt % total starch over the total weight of the layered cookie.

The disclosure will now be described in relation to the figures, provided by way of non-limiting example, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the different steps of a method for forming a biscuit;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the different steps of a method for forming a layered cookie;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a rotary moulder. The large arrow indicates the direction to the oven;

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a filling-over-biscuit cookie; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a sandwich cookie.

As a key to FIG. 1:

E1: Mixing the ingredients

E2: Resting the dough

E3: Rotary moulding the dough into biscuits

E4: Glazing the biscuits

E5: Baking the biscuits

E6: Cooling the biscuits

E7: Packaging the biscuits

As a key to FIG. 2:

E1′: Mixing the ingredients into a dough

E2′: Resting the dough

E3′: Rotary moulding the dough into biscuits

E4′: Glazing the biscuits

E5′: Baking the biscuits

E6′: Cooling the biscuits

E7′: Depositing filing on one biscuit

E8′: Assembling the layered cookie

E9′: Cooling the layered cookie

E10′: Packaging the layered cookie

The disclosure will now be described in relation to the following non-limiting examples.

EXAMPLES OF BISCUITS Example 1

A plain Cocoa biscuit was prepared. The biscuit has the following composition (in percentage of the final biscuit):

dough ingredients 115.41 wt % glazing ingredients  1.69 wt % water removal −17.10 wt % total   100 wt %

More particularly, biscuits are produced from dough formed with the following recipes:

Ingredient Wt % in dough Wt % in Biscuit Refined soft wheat flour 29.4 29.2 Wheat bran and germ 3.0 3.1 Whole grain spelt flour 0.91 0.90 Whole grain rye flour 2.9 2.9 Whole grain barley flour 5.6 5.5 Whole grain oat flakes 7.7 7.8 SUGARS 16.5 19.0 FAT 10.2 11.8 ADDED WATER 7.6 2.0 Cocoa powder 3.0 3.3 Chocolat drop 11.3 13.0 Flavouring powder 0.27 0.31 Emulsifier 0.33 0.38 Salt 0.25 0.29 Leavening agents 0.80 0.18 Vitamin and mineral lend 0.16 0.18 Total 100.0 100.0 Relative total wt % after baking 86.8

(amounts are expressed in percentage with respect to the weight of, respectively, final biscuit and unbaked dough)

The water absorption measured by Brabender® Farinograph® of the refined wheat flour is 52%.

The ingredients of the dough are mixed together in a horizontal mixer until the dough gets a homogenised consistency. Then the dough is rested for 30 minutes. After resting, the dough is fed into the hopper of the rotary moulder for forming the biscuits. The dough is fed so that the moulding and grooved cylinders of the rotary moulder are nearly visible. The speed differential of the moulding and grooved cylinder is kept below 10%. The biscuits are then glazed with a glazing that comprises (in weight percentage of the final biscuit):

water  1.48 wt % skimmed milk powder 0.169 wt % starchy icing sugar 0.0425 wt %. 

After glazing the biscuits are driven to the oven for baking for about 7 min. During baking the temperature of the dough remains under 160° C. at all times. At the end of baking the water content is about 2.0 wt %.

When the biscuits are taken out from the oven, they are allowed to cool down on open belts until the temperature of the biscuits is below 30° C. for packing.

The biscuit comprises 57.15 wt % cereal ingredients, more in particular 31.19 wt % wholegrain cereal flour representing 64.55% of the total cereal flour. The biscuit has 17.1 wt % fat and 27.1 wt % sugar. Fat represents 35% of the total caloric value of the biscuit, while carbohydrate represents 58% and more precisely, sugar represents 24%. The biscuit has a SDS/(RDS+SDS) ratio of 40.75% and 16.3 g SAG/100 g biscuit. The biscuit has a starch content of 36.5 wt %.

Example 2

The biscuit has the following composition (in percentage of the final biscuit):

dough ingredients 112.46 wt % glazing ingredients  1.69 wt % water removal −14.15 wt % total   100 wt %

More particularly, biscuits are produced from dough formed with the following recipes:

Ingredient Wt % in dough Wt % in Biscuit Refined soft wheat flour 32.3 31.1 Wheat bran and germ 3.1 3.1 Whole grain spelt flour 0.89 0.86 Whole grain rye flour 3.1 3.0 Whole grain barley flour 4.4 4.2 Whole grain oat flakes 9.5 9.5 SUGARS 16.6 18.6 FAT 12.2 13.6 ADDED WATER 4.5 1.5 Honey (dry) 4.5 4.9 Chocolate drop 7.7 8.6 Flavouring powder 0.29 0.32 Emulsifier 0.15 0.17 Salt 0.26 0.29 Leavening agents 0.44 0.10 Vitamin and mineral lend 0.15 0.17 Total 100.00 100.00 Relative total wt % after baking 89.3

(amounts are expressed in percentage with respect to the weight of, respectively, final biscuit and unbaked dough).

The water absorption value measured by Brabender® Farinograph® of the refined wheat flour is 53%.

The ingredients of the dough are mixed together in a horizontal mixer until the dough gets a homogenised consistency. Then the dough is rested. After resting, the dough is fed into the hopper of the rotary moulder for forming the biscuits. The dough is fed so that the moulding and grooved cylinders of the rotary moulder are nearly visible. The speed differential of the moulding and grooved cylinder is kept below 10%. The biscuits are then glazed with a glazing that comprises (in weight percentage of the final biscuit):

water  1.47 wt % skimmed milk powder 0.170 wt % starchy icing sugar  0.040 wt %.

After glazing the biscuits are driven to the oven for baking for about 7 min. During baking the temperature of the dough remains under 160° C. and the water content decreases until it reaches 1.5 wt %.

When the biscuits are taken out from the oven, they are allowed to cool down on open belts until the temperature of the biscuits is below 30° C. for packing.

The biscuit comprises 56.4 wt % cereal ingredients, more in particular 29.66 wt % wholegrain cereal flour representing 60.34% of the total cereal flour. The biscuit has 17.24 wt % fat and 24.56 wt % sugar. Fat represents 34% of the total caloric value of the biscuit, while carbohydrate represents 60% and more precisely, sugar represents 22%. The biscuit has a SDS/(RDS+SDS) ratio of 44.18% and 18.6 g SAG/100 g biscuit. The biscuit has a starch content of 38.1 wt %.

EXAMPLES OF SANDWICH COOKIES Example 1

A sandwich cookie has the following composition (in percentage of the final cookie):

dough ingredients 87.12 wt % glazing ingredients  3.02 wt % filling ingredients 28.00 wt % water removal −18.14 wt %  total   100 wt %

More particularly, the biscuits of the sandwich cookie are produced from dough formed with the following recipes:

Ingredient Wt % in dough Wt % in Biscuit Refined soft wheat flour 48.7 49.4 sugar 16.0 18.9 wholegrain cereal flour (rye, barley, 3.6 3.7 spelt) wheat bran and wheat germ 2.4 2.6 oat flakes 10.5 11.0 FAT 10.1 11.9 ADDED WATER 6.8 1.0 Flavouring powder 0.33 0.39 Emulsifier 0.12 0.14 Salt 0.21 0.25 Leavening agents 0.74 0.17 Vitamin and mineral lend 0.50 0.59 Total 100.00 100.00 Relative total wt % after baking 84.8

(Amounts are expressed in percentage with respect to the weight of, respectively, final biscuit and unbaked dough.)

The refined soft wheat flour used in example 1 has a water absorption value as measured with Brabender® Farinograph® of 53-54%.

The ingredients of the dough are mixed together in a horizontal mixer until the dough gets a homogenised consistency. Then the dough is rested. After resting, the dough is fed into the hopper of the rotary moulder for forming the biscuits. The dough is fed so that the moulding and grooved cylinders of the rotary moulder are nearly visible. The speed differential of the moulding and grooved cylinder is kept below 10%. The biscuits are then glazed with a glazing that comprises (in weight percentage of the final biscuit):

water 2.68 wt % skimmed milk powder 0.27 wt % refined sugar powder 0.07 wt % total  3.02 wt %.

After glazing the biscuits are driven to the oven for baking for about 6 min. During baking the temperature of the dough remains under 160° C. and the water content decreases until it reaches 1%.

When the biscuits are taken out from the oven, they are allowed to cool down on open belts. Once the temperature of the biscuits is below 33° C. the biscuits are then assembled with a filling to form sandwich cookies. The filling has the following composition:

sugar 14.26 wt %  wheat starch 1.93 wt % emulsifier 0.08 wt % flavouring agent 0.04 wt % cocoa powder 4.31 wt % fat 7.38 wt % total 28.00 wt %. 

The sandwich cookie has 18.08 wt % fat and 26.5 wt % sugar. Fat represents 35.7% of the total caloric value of the sandwich cookie, while carbohydrate represents 57% and more precisely, sugar represents 23%. The sandwich cookie has a SDS/(RDS+SDS) ratio of 39.95% and 16.5 g SAG/100 g sandwich cookie.

Comparative Example 1

The sandwich cookie for the comparative example 1 has the following composition (in percentage of the final cookie):

dough ingredients 87.30 wt % glazing ingredients  3.02 wt % filling ingredients 28.00 wt % water removal −18.32 wt %  total   100 wt %

More particularly, the biscuits of the sandwich cookie are produced from dough formed with the following recipes:

Ingredient Wt % in dough Wt % in Biscuit Wheat flour 47.5 49.7 sugar 15.5 18.9 wholegrain cereal flour (rye, barley, 3.5 3.7 spelt) wheat bran and wheat germ 2.1 2.3 oat flakes 10.2 11.0 FAT 9.8 11.9 ADDED WATER 9.7 1.0 Flavouring powder 0.32 0.39 Emulsifier 0.12 0.15 Salt 0.18 0.22 Leavening agents 0.72 0.18 Vitamin and mineral lend 0.48 0.58 Total 100.00 100.00 Relative total wt % after baking 82.1

(Amounts are expressed in percentage with respect to the weight of, respectively, final biscuit and unbaked dough)

The amount of the various ingredients is actually the same as in example 1, only more water is added into the dough, thus changing the percentage for all ingredients. Another difference is the use of refined wheat flour in example 1, whereas in the comparative example 1, conventional soft wheat flour is used.

This soft wheat flour has a water absorption value as measured with Brabender® Farinograph® of 58-59%.

The ingredients of the dough are mixed together in a horizontal mixer until the dough gets a homogenised consistency. Then the dough is rested. After resting, the dough is fed into the hopper of an ordinary rotary moulder for forming the biscuits. The speed differential of the moulding and grooved cylinder is kept below 10%. The biscuits are then glazed with a glazing that comprises (in weight percentage of the final biscuit):

water 2.68 wt % skimmed milk powder 0.27 wt % refined sugar powder 0.07 wt % total  3.02 wt %.

After glazing the biscuits are driven to the oven for baking for about 6 min. During baking the temperature of the dough remains under 160° C. and the water content decreases until it reaches 1%.

When the biscuits are taken out from the oven, they are allowed to cool down on open belts. Once the temperature of the biscuits is below 33° C. the biscuits are then assembled with a filling to form sandwich cookies. The filling has the following composition:

sugar 14.26 wt %  wheat starch 1.93 wt % emulsifier 0.08 wt % flavouring agent 0.04 wt % cocoa powder 4.31 wt % fat 7.38 wt % total 28.00 wt %. 

This sandwich cookie has 29.7% SDS/(RDS+SDS) and 12.5 g/100 g sandwich cookie of SAG. Thus, SAG content for this sandwich cookie is much less than 15 g/100 g sandwich cookie. This shows that the change in dough recipe and in use of a different rotary moulder result in sandwich cookies with better SAG content.

Also, use of refined wheat flour in example 1 enables diminution of added water content in the dough down to less than 8 wt % of the dough. It is believed that this makes it possible to better protect the starch from gelatinisation and therefore preserve a high amount of SDS.

Example 2

The sandwich cookie has the following composition (in percentage of the final cookie):

dough ingredients 87.60 wt % glazing ingredients  3.01 wt % filling ingredients 28.00 wt % water removal −18.62 wt %  total   100 wt %

More particularly, the biscuits of the sandwich cookie are produced from dough formed with the following recipes:

Ingredient Wt % in dough Wt % in Biscuit refined soft wheat flour 48.7 49.6 sugar 15.9 18.9 wholegrain cereal flour (rye, barley, 3.6 3.6 spelt) wheat bran and wheat germ 2.4 2.6 oat flakes 10.4 11.0 FAT 10.1 11.9 ADDED WATER 7.2 1.0 Flavouring powder 0.33 0.39 Emulsifier 0.12 0.14 Salt 0.21 0.25 Leavening agents 0.76 0.18 Vitamin and mineral lend 0.37 0.44 Total 100.00 100.00 Relative total wt % after baking 84.4

(Amounts are expressed in percentage with respect to the weight of, respectively, final biscuit and unbaked dough.)

The refined soft wheat flour used in example 2 has a water absorption value as measured with Brabender® Farinograph® of 53-54%.

The ingredients of the dough are mixed together in a horizontal mixer until the dough gets a homogenised consistency. Then the dough is rested. After resting, the dough is fed into the hopper of the rotary moulder for forming the biscuits. The dough is fed so that the moulding and grooved cylinders of the rotary moulder are nearly visible. The speed differential of the moulding and grooved cylinder is kept below 10%. The biscuits are then glazed with a glazing that comprises (in weight percentage of the final biscuit):

water 2.68 wt % skimmed milk powder 0.27 wt % refined sugar powder 0.07 wt % total  3.01 wt %.

After glazing the biscuits are driven to the oven for baking for about 6 min. During baking the temperature of the dough remains under 160° C. and the water content decreases until it reaches 1%.

When the biscuits are taken out from the oven, they are allowed to cool down on open belts. Once the temperature of the biscuits is below 33° C. the biscuits are then assembled with a filling to form sandwich cookies. The filling has the following composition:

dairy derivatives (whey, yoghurt) 4.48 wt % wheat starch 5.60 wt % sugar 10.07 wt %  emulsifier 0.07 wt % flavouring agent (yoghurt) 0.06 wt % acidifying agent 0.02 wt % fat 7.70 wt % total 28.00 wt %. 

The sandwich cookie has 17.62 wt % fat and 28.3 wt % sugar. Fat represents 34.8% of the total caloric value of the sandwich cookie, while carbohydrate represents 59% and more precisely, sugar represents 25%. The sandwich cookie has a SDS/(RDS+SDS) ratio of 43.38% and 19 g SAG/100 g sandwich cookie.

Comparative Example 2

The sandwich cookie for the comparative example 1 has the following composition (in percentage of the final cookie):

dough ingredients 87.80 wt % glazing ingredients  3.01 wt % filling ingredients 28.00 wt % water removal −18.81 wt %  total   100 wt %

More particularly, the biscuits of the sandwich cookie are produced from dough formed with the following recipes:

Ingredient Wt % in dough Wt % in Biscuit wheat flour 46.8 49.4 sugar 15.4 18.9 wholegrain cereal flour (rye, barley, 3.5 3.6 spelt) wheat bran and wheat germ 2.3 2.6 oat flakes 10.1 11.0 FAT (vegetable fat) 9.7 11.9 ADDED WATER 10.2 1.0 Flavouring powder (yoghurt) 0.31 0.38 Emulsifier 0.12 0.15 Salt 0.20 0.25 Leavening agents 1.02 0.25 Vitamin and mineral lend 0.36 0.44 Total 100.00 100.00 Relative total wt % after baking 81.8

(Amounts are expressed in percentage with respect to the weight of, respectively, final biscuit and unbaked dough.)

The amount of the various ingredients is actually the same as in example 2, only more water is added into the dough, thus changing the percentage for all ingredients. Another difference is the use of refined wheat flour in example 2, whereas in the comparative example 2, conventional soft wheat flour is used. This soft wheat flour has a water absorption value as measured with Brabender® Farinograph® of 58-59%.

The ingredients of the dough are mixed together in a horizontal mixer until the dough gets a homogenised consistency. Then the dough is rested. After resting, the dough is fed into the hopper of an ordinary rotary moulder for forming the biscuits. The speed differential of the moulding and grooved cylinders is kept below 10%. The biscuits are then glazed with a glazing that comprises (in weight percentage of the final biscuit):

water 2.68 wt % skimmed milk powder 0.27 wt % refined sugar powder 0.07 wt % total  3.01 wt %.

After glazing the biscuits are driven to the oven for baking for about 6 min. During baking the temperature of the dough remains under 160° C. and the water content decreases until it reaches 1%.

When the biscuits are taken out from the oven, they are allowed to cool down on open belts. Once the temperature of the biscuits is below 33° C. the biscuits are then assembled with a filling to form sandwich cookies. The filling has the following composition:

dairy derivatives (whey, yoghurt) 4.48 wt % wheat starch 5.60 wt % sugar 10.07 wt %  emulsifier 0.07 wt % flavouring agent (yoghurt) 0.06 wt % acidifying agent 0.02 wt % fat 7.70 wt % total 28.00 wt %. 

This sandwich cookie has 28.5% SDS/(RDS+SDS) and 12.3 g/100 g sandwich cookie of SAG. Thus, SAG content for this sandwich cookie is much less than 15 g/100 g sandwich cookie. This shows again that the change in dough recipe and in use of a different rotary moulder result in sandwich cookies with better SAG content.

Also, use of refined wheat flour in example 1 enables diminution of added water content in the dough down to less than 8 wt % of the dough. It is believed that this makes it possible to better protect the starch from gelatinisation and therefore preserve a high amount of SDS.

Example 3

The sandwich cookie has the following composition (in percentage of the final cookie):

dough ingredients 90.39 wt % glazing ingredients  1.90 wt % filling ingredients 27.00 wt % water removal −19.29 wt %  total   100 wt %

More particularly, the biscuits of the sandwich cookie are produced from dough formed with the following recipes:

Ingredient Wt % in dough Wt % in Biscuit refined soft wheat flour 49.5 50.9 sugar 13.9 16.7 wholegrain cereal flour (rye, barley, 5.8 5.9 spelt) wheat bran and wheat germ 2.0 2.2 oat flakes 7.8 8.3 FAT (vegetable fat) 11.0 13.2 ADDED WATER 7.8 1.1 Flavouring powder (yoghurt) 0.23 0.27 Emulsifier 0.29 0.35 Salt 0.20 0.24 Leavening agents 0.75 0.18 Vitamin and mineral lend 0.55 0.66 Total 100.00 100.00 Relative total wt % after baking 83.7

(Amounts are expressed in percentage with respect to the weight of, respectively, final biscuit and unbaked dough)

The water absorption value measured by Brabender® Farinograph® of the refined wheat flour is 53-54%.

The ingredients of the dough are mixed together in a horizontal mixer until the dough gets a homogenised consistency. Then the dough is rested. After resting, the dough is fed into the hopper of the rotary moulder for forming the biscuits. The dough is fed so that the moulding and grooved cylinders of the rotary moulder are nearly visible. The speed differential of the moulding and grooved cylinder is kept below 10%. The biscuits are then glazed with a glazing that comprises (in weight percentage of the final biscuit):

water 1.69 wt % skimmed milk powder 0.17 wt % refined sugar powder 0.04 wt % total  1.90 wt %.

After glazing the biscuits are driven to the oven for baking for about 7 min. During baking the temperature of the dough remains under 160° C. and the water content decreases until it reaches 1.1%.

When the biscuits are taken out from the oven, they are allowed to cool down on open belts. Since the temperature of the biscuits is below 33° C. the biscuits are then assembled with a filling to form sandwich cookies. The filling has the following composition:

sugar 16.47 wt %  moisturising agent 6.75 wt % vegetable fat 1.62 wt % fruit concentrate 1.35 wt % gums 0.27 wt % acidity regulator 0.38 wt % emulsifier 0.11 wt % flavouring agent (mixed berry) 0.05 wt % total 27.00 wt %. 

The sandwich cookie has 12.05 wt % fat and 29.3 wt % sugar. Fat represents 26% of the total caloric value of the sandwich cookie, while carbohydrate represents 68% and more precisely, sugar represents 27.7%. The sandwich cookie has a SDS/(RDS+SDS) ratio of 35.07% and 15.5 g SAG/100 g sandwich cookie.

Dough Properties

The density of the dough in the moulds used to form the biscuits was quantified by calculating the density, i.e. the mass per unit volume, of the dough in the rotary mould. This is done by dividing the weight of a dough piece (straight after rotary molding) by the volume of the rotary mould.

Die volume (cm3) Dough weight (g) Density (g/cm3) Plain Biscuit 11.324 14.5 1.280 Sandwich 8.56 11.0 1.285 Biscuit

The density values of further samples were measured and ranged from 1.20 to 1.29 g/ml.

The dough properties of the samples were also subjected to compression testing and sieving testing according to the test methods described herein. In particular, the pressure required to achieve a density of 1.22 g/cm³ was measured and the particle size distributions were observed.

Rheology Sieving Rest Temp Force Pressure % D10 Dough time (° C.) (kg) (kg/m²) <10 mm (mm) Biscuit Ex 1 0 h 30   30° C. 12.97 6625 63% 1.25 Biscuit Ex 1 2 h 30   30° C. 19.1 9728 84% 0.95 Biscuit Ex 1 2 h 30   20° C. 29.3 14922 78% 0.95 Biscuit Ex 2 0 h 30 24.5° C. 10.8 5500 29% 5.25 Biscuit Ex 2 2 h 30 24.5° C. 12.8 6519 25% 4.50 Biscuit Ex 2 2 h 30 24.5° C. 11.8 6010 Biscuit Ex 2 2 h 20 24.5° C. 13.8 7028 Sandwich Ex 2 1 h   25° C. 14.5 7385 32% 3.50 Sandwich Comp Ex 2 1 h   25° C. 5.0 2546 4% >10 % <10 mm refers to the amount of dough that goes through the 10 mm sieve. It is calculated as follows: % 10 mm = 100 − % dough mass on 10 mm sieve. % <2 mm refers to the amount of dough that goes through the 2 mm sieve. This amount can simply be measured and the % determined.

Unless otherwise stated, the percentage values recited herein are by weight and, where appropriate, by weight of the final biscuit.

Although preferred embodiments of the disclosure have been described herein in detail, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variations may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the disclosure or of the appended claims. 

We claim:
 1. A dough for producing a biscuit having a slowly-digestible-starch-over-total-available-starch ratio of at least 31% and a slowly available glucose value of at least 15.0 g/100 g of the biscuit, the biscuit comprising at least 29 wt % cereal flour, 5 to 22 wt % fat and at most 30 wt % sugar relative to the total weight of the biscuit, the dough comprising: cereal flour, fat, sugar and added water; wherein the added water is in an amount of at most 8 wt % relative to the weight of dough; and wherein the cereal flour comprises a refined cereal flour having a water absorption under 55% as measured according to NF-ISO-5530-1 and the refined cereal flour forms at least 14.5 wt % of the biscuit.
 2. The dough according to claim 1, wherein the added water is in an amount of from 3 to 7 wt % relative to the weight of dough.
 3. The dough according to claim 1, having a pre-baking density of from 1.0 to 1.5 g/cm³.
 4. The dough according to claim 1, wherein the refined cereal flour comprises wheat flour comprising soft wheat flour, wheat flour with low damaged starch, thermally treated wheat flour, or combinations of two or more thereof.
 5. The dough according to claim 1 for forming a biscuit comprising at most 19 wt % wholegrain cereal flakes by weight of the biscuit.
 6. The dough according to claim 1, wherein the dough has a particle size distribution such that at least 20 wt % of the dough passes through a vibrating sieve mesh of 10 mm.
 7. The dough according to claim 1, wherein the dough has a particle size distribution such that at least 8 wt % of the dough passes through a vibrating sieve mesh of 2 mm.
 8. The dough according to claim 1, wherein the dough has a particle size distribution such that the D10 of the dough mass distribution is at most 6 mm.
 9. The dough according to claim 1, wherein the dough requires a pressure of at least 5000 kg/m² to compress the dough to a density of 1.22 g/cm³.
 10. The dough according to claim 1, wherein the pressure required to compress the dough to a density of 1.22 g/cm³ is from 6500 to 30000 kg/m².
 11. The dough according to claim 1, wherein the dough comprises at least about 29 wt % cereal flour, about 4 to about 20 wt % fat and at most about 27 wt % sugar.
 12. A method for forming a biscuit having a slowly-digestible-starch-over-total-available-starch ratio of at least 31%, the biscuit comprising at least 29 wt % cereal flour, 5 to 22 wt % fat and at most 30 wt % sugar relative to the total weight of the biscuit, the method comprising: providing the dough according to claim 1; moulding the dough into the shape of the biscuit; and baking the biscuit.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the step of moulding the dough involves compressing the dough to a pre-baking density of from 1.0 to 1.5 g/cm³.
 14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the baking is: (i) conducted for a time of from 4 to 12 minutes; and/or (ii) conducted so that the temperature within the biscuit does not exceed 110° C., within the first 2 minutes of baking.
 15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the dough is mixed in a multi-step process and wherein: ingredients, excluding the added water, the cereal flour and wholegrain cereal flakes, if present, are mixed together, then the added water is added; then the cereal flour is added; then the wholegrain cereal flakes, if present, are added.
 16. The method according to claim 12, wherein the step of moulding is a step of rotary moulding.
 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the rotary moulding is performed with a rotary moulder comprising: (i) a moulding cylinder and a grooved cylinder for shaping the dough into the biscuits, the moulding cylinder receiving the dough and the grooved cylinder with grooves of 5 to 15 mm, preferably 10 mm, pressing the dough in the moulding cylinder; and, optionally (ii) a hopper as a funnel for feeding the moulding and grooved cylinders; and/or (iii) a demoulding belt for demoulding the biscuits, optionally further comprising a humidification system; wherein the difference of speed between the grooved cylinder and the moulding cylinder is preferably maintained under 10%.
 18. The method according to claim 12, wherein the method further comprises a step of forming a layered cookie by providing the biscuit with a filling part and, optionally, at least one further biscuit part.
 19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the layered cookie contains 10 wt % to 25 wt % fat and 15 wt % to 40 wt % sugar relative to the total weight of the layered cookie.
 20. A biscuit or filled cookie having a slowly-digestible-starch-over-total-available-starch ratio of at least 31%, the biscuit or filled cookie comprising at least 29 wt % cereal flour, 5 to 22 wt % fat and at most 30 wt % sugar relative to the total weight of the biscuit or filled cookie, prepared by a method comprising: providing the dough according to claim 1; moulding the dough into the shape of the biscuit or filled cookie; and baking the dough.
 21. The biscuit or filled cookie according to claim 20, wherein the biscuit has a slowly available glucose value of at least 16.5 g/100 g of the biscuit or filled cookie.
 22. The biscuit or filled cookie according to claim 20, wherein the biscuit has a slowly available glucose value of at least 18.0 g/100 g of the biscuit or filled cookie.
 23. The biscuit or filled cookie according to claim 20, wherein the biscuit has a slowly available glucose value of at least 21.0 g/100 g of the biscuit or filled cookie.
 24. The dough according to claim 1, wherein the dough has a particle size distribution such that at least 30 wt % of the dough passes through a vibrating sieve mesh of 10 mm. 